Near Miss: Responders Ignore Power Lines
This near miss report from the National Fire Fighter Near Miss Reporting System really shows what kind of trouble tunnel vision can cause.
At approximately 0930hrs, a call was paged for MVA (motor vehicle accident). An engine, rescue, 2 BLS units, and a medic unit responded. The EMS units were paid so they were on the street first. I arrived first on scene to find 6 to 8 bystanders at the door of accident vehicle, with another bystander directing traffic on a 2 lane highway. As I was directing the bystander to move away from the vehicle, of which was under power lines of the pole that had been hit, the 1st BLS unit parked beside the pole that had been hit. The crew rushed out, went straight to the accident vehicle and began care. The second BLS unit parked approximately 150ft behind first unit and started out with the same intentions. At this time, I'm still trying to get both units as well as other bystanders away from the pole and the lines, while leaving room for the rescue to do extrication. It was at that time the lines started arcing while attached to the pole. All EMS personnel began to scatter except for the 2 in the SUV. Within seconds the engine arrived followed by the rescue.
It is easy to focus on fixing the problem before doing a proper scene size-up. Do you take a few seconds to really get a good look at the incident scene before taking action? On the way to the incident do you think about what you may face upon arrival?
Posted December 15, 2005 09:45 AM · Link
· Near Misses
